Chihiro Mayuzumi
|kanji = 黛 千尋 |gender = Male |age = 18 |height = 182 cm (6' 0") |weight = 69 kg (152 lbs) |team = Rakuzan (former) |position = Power Forward |talent = Misdirection |first appearance manga = Chapter 175 |birthday = March 1st, Pisces |blood type = AB|first appearance anime = Episode 54 |anime voice = Ryōta Ōsaka }}Chihiro Mayuzumi (黛 千尋 Mayuzumi Chihiro) was a regular member in Rakuzan High. He was a power forward and the only third year among the starting five of Rakuzan. Like Tetsuya Kuroko, he possesses the ability of Misdirection. After the Winter Cup, he retired along with the rest of the third years. His jersey number is 5. Appearance Mayuzumi has medium-length grey hair and an extremely blank gaze, even blanker than that of Tetsuya Kuroko. He is tall, and of an average build. On court, he wears the blue and white Rakuzan jersey with the number 5. According to Furihata and Aomine, Mayuzumi bears a resemblance to a certain someone.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 231, page 17 Personality Mayuzumi is quiet to the point of ignoring people who speak to him, as is shown when he disregards Hayama's call during the warm up at the Winter Cup finals. Due to his lack of presence most of his team members had a hard time even remembering anything about his playing style. He has high self respect and only does what makes him happy, such as reading light novels in his free time. Behind his facade, Mayuzumi is very proud and can't stand being looked down upon. However, he is also a realist and aware of his own limitations. Mayuzumi is resentful and gets easily annoyed, as is shown by how he reacts to his teammates suddenly changing their minds about him after he makes the first string. Mayuzumi can be blunt and quite rude as he swears and criticizes often, at least internally. Despite this, he is diligent and does his job in supporting the team. In contrast to Kuroko Tetsuya, who dedicates himself to teamwork and supporting others, Mayuzumi has shown little interest in solidarity and claims to only pass for his own sake. History Mayuzumi didn't become a regular for the Rakuzan basketball team until his third year, after Akashi's enrollment in Rakuzan. Due to the tough practices and the realization that he wouldn't be able to compete with the elite basketball players of Rakuzan, Mayuzumi initially decided to resign from the club. He was, however, approached by Akashi, who saw the hidden talent in him and told him to cancel his resignation. Though Mayuzumi initially rejected Akashi's offer, he decided to stay in the basketball club, becoming Rakuzan's phantom sixth man.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 239, page 3-7 Story Winter Cup Semi-finals Mayuzumi's first appearance was in the Rakuzan vs. Shutoku match of the Winter Cup, though he remained unnamed and makes few appearances apart from being responsible for marking Midorima during the first half of the game, including a double team with Mibuchi.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 176, page 13 He was unable to use his misdirection in the game due to Takao's Hawk Eye. Finals Mayuzumi participates in the warm up of the Seirin vs. Rakuzan game with his teammates. He is shown ignoring Hayama calling out to him during the warm up. Aside from successfully blocking Kuroko's Vanishing Drive and Phantom Shot,Kuroko no Basuke chapter 237, page 13 Mayuzumi is not seen much in the first quarter of the game. Before the beginning of the second quarter, Akashi lets Mayuzumi take charge of the passing. He explains that while Takao's Hawk Eye rendered Mayuzumi's misdirection useless, Izuki's Eagle Eye's smaller field of vision makes passing possible for Mayuzumi. The second quarter begins, and Mayuzumi is marked by Mitobe, who he avoids by using Misdirection to pass to Mibuchi. The Seirin team is astonished by the existence of another player with the ability to use Misdirection. Akashi then explains that Kuroko and Mayuzumi are not the same as the latter's overall skills are higher, calling Mayuzumi the new model of the phantom sixth man.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 238, page 19 Nebuya scores on Mayuzumi's pass and congratulates him, causing Mayuzumi to internally scorn his change in attitude after Mayuzumi became a regular. In a counterattack Mayuzumi is about to use his misdirection but is blocked by Mitobe, who predicted the direction of his pass. Mayuzumi decides to take the shot himself, and scores, much to Seirin's surprise. As he gets back to his position in defense, he glowers at Kuroko and thinks to himself that he doesn't care about the debate regarding the "old" and "new model" phantom sixth man, since his style is different. Mayuzumi then notices Kuroko's intense gaze directed at him, and wonders if the latter is observing him.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 239, page 18 When Mitobe is subbed out for Furihata, Izuki is put in charge of marking Mayuzumi. Mayuzumi is initially confused by the entrance of Furihata, much like his teammates, but notes that his movements will be restricted due to Izuki's Eagle Eye. Mayuzumi then lowers his defense on Furihata, since the latter had only acted as a support figure up to that point. Furihata, seeing an opening, shoots and scores, to Mayuzumi's annoyance. Izuki's defense closes some opportunities, but Mayuzumi manages to evade him by exploiting his blind spot. Mayuzumi succeeds again and when he is about to pass to Akashi, who he remarks is showing off. He passes the ball to the basket for Akashi's dunk, making the score 62-37 in favor of Rakuzan.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 245, page 18 At the third quarter, Mayuzumi witnesses the return of Kuroko to the floor. He mocks Kuroko, thinking he will only let his team down. With the ball, Mayuzumi faces Kuroko and dribbles past him, irritated by his pointless determination. About to shoot, he's stopped by Kagami, who launches a counterattack. In the next attack, Mayuzumi is surprised to again face Kuroko, who isn't being supported by Kagami this time. Mayuzumi dribbles past Kuroko, and to his surprise, Kiyoshi lets him score despite being able to stop him. Realizing that Seirin is purposely letting him shoot, he becomes angry and assumes he is being looked down upon, deciding to go all out. Mayuzumi scores more baskets, to the enjoyment of the audience. He tells Kuroko that there is no chance that he, could beat him as the new model of the phantom sixth man. After Seirin scores, Kuroko answers to Mayuzumi that he'll not let go of the title of the phantom sixth man that easily. Suddenly, Kuroko disappears from Mayuzumi's sight and steals the ball.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 248, page 20 Mayuzumi is stunned because Kuroko's lack of presence didn't return, despite his steal. Again in a 1-on-1, Mayuzumi comes to realize that he is in the process of being overwritten: Kuroko had purposely made Mayuzumi stand out so it would be easier for him to vanish and to disable his misdirection.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 249, page 10 He decides to pass to Hayama, who misses the shot because the pass was too low. Akashi steals the ball to get the flow back but has to face Kagami in the Zone. Mayuzumi decides to intervene and uses his still working misdirection to pass to Nebuya. He then claims he will stay in the shadows to stop being overwritten. Facing Kuroko once more, he mocks his weak pressure in defense, knowing he wants him to break through. Mayuzumi decides to dribble a little to steer clear of the five-second rules. Subconsciously, he drives past Kuroko and is blocked by Kagami. Mayuzumi discovers Kuroko has deliberately created an opening so Mayuzumi's instincts would kick in and cause him to involuntarily make the wrong move. With this the overwrite of Mayuzumi is complete, and Kuroko's misdirection returns.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 250, page 19 Seirin manages to reduce the gap from 25 to 19 points, thanks to Kuroko, and Rakuzan's coach Eiji Shirogane calls for a time-out. On the bench, his teammates are bitter and express their disdain towards him. Mayuzumi is furious that he is being thrown out due to having lost his ability, but doesn't argue, and is actually almost happy to be substituted due to having lost his will to continue playing. To everyone's surprise, however, Akashi claims to still have plans for him. Even though he calls Mayuzumi's performance a disgrace, Akashi still needs to pass due to Kagami's power while in the Zone, and plans to use Mayuzumi's skill. Back in the match, Akashi faces Kagami and his wide defense area. Mayuzumi decides to step in but Akashi passes to Mibuchi. Because Mayuzumi is now easier to see, he involuntarily makes the ball disappear, a technique somewhat similar to Kuroko's Misdirection Overflow. Mibuchi scores with a three-pointer and Mayuzumi, to his dismay, becomes aware that he is now only being used as a tool to let his teammates pass.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 251, page 21 The match continues and Akashi continues to use Mayuzumi to make passes safely. Mayuzumi's only job now is to step in Kagami's line of sight to distract him, and does so with little enthusiasm. During the showdown between Hayama and Izuki, he cursed his teammate's foolishness for passing to him while he himself is marked by Kuroko. Seirin slowly begins to catch up with a score of 88-68. The third quarter is finished and Akashi reminds to everyone what they have to do, except Mayuzumi. Mayuzumi is annoyed and internally curses him, knowing that Akashi will use him to the bitter end. He is then intimidated by Akashi's monologue on winning.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 257, page 12 At the 4th quarter, Mayuzumi is worried about emphasizing too much on 1-on-1 and criticizes Akashi's passivity. He wonders if Akashi is preparing something and comes to realize what he is about to use it against Kagami.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 259, page 7 Seirin reduces the gap at only 10 points, and Mayuzumi is surprised when Akashi says to attack with only four of them, while he stays at the back. Seirin stops Rakuzan's attack and counters with Kagami, who is suddenly stopped by Akashi. To everyone's surprise, Akashi has managed to enter the Zone. He rushes a counter-offensive and beat the remaining four opponents while outrunning Kagami effortlessly by himself. Mayuzumi is astonished by his performance, and guesses that he must have completely lost his faith on his team to be in that state.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 261, page 10 Soon after, Mayuzumi witnesses Akashi's loss to Kuroko's Quasi-Emperor Eye and Kagami's Zone. Due to his distressed state, Akashi is about to be substituted out of the game, which is when Mayuzumi steps in and proceeds to mock Akashi. He tells Akashi how pathetic he looks and that he is not the same person as the Akashi he met on Rakuzan's rooftop. He ends his rant by asking Akashi who he his, which triggers the return of the original Akashi, who gets up and requests to be let back in the game and answers Mayuzumi's question by stating that he is simply Seijūrō Akashi.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 266, page 20 Skill Being a regular Rakuzan, it was mentioned that Mayuzumi has solid basketball fundamentals.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 231, page 21 According to Momoi, Mayuzumi's parameters are absurdly balanced but none of his skills particularly stand out. Although being a phantom six man, Mayuzumi has enough talent to enter pseudo zone, due to Akashi's perfect rhythmed plays. Misdirection During the finals against Seirin, it is revealed that Mayuzumi possesses similar capabilities to Kuroko, the power of misdirection (though he can't use more advanced moves like misdirection overflow or vanishing drive). According to Akashi Mayuzumi's is more effective in a game than Kuroko the reason being that Mayuzumi is solid in other facets of the game where as Kuroko's general basketball skills are below average. This allows him to score normally, when Kuroko can't. Akashi calls Mayuzumi the new and improved version of the phantom sixth man. Like Kuroko, Mayuzumi is naturally hard to notice so he developed a playing technique using that "invisibility". He simply behaves as if another player will get the ball and not him. Plus, he tries as much as possible to not showing emotions to reduce his already weak presence.228 He pushes the opponents to focus their attention to someone else and then steps in unexpectedly. When the opponent can't see him, it is much easier to steal the ball. Misdirection is a technique that fools the opponent's senses. The reason why Mayuzumi didn't use his misdirection against Shūtoku was due to Takao's Hawk Eye ability. Kuroko devised a plan to overwrite Mayuzumi, meaning that Kuroko will let him stand out and continue to let him shoot until his lack of presence starts to run out making Kuroko regain his. The logic to this plan is that one who holds and shoots the ball most will be noticed by the crowd. When his misdirection starts to run out, the Rakuzan members can use him to distract other players able to make the ball in motion disappear from an opponent player's field of vision, though Mayuzumi himself can't use it there is a similar effect to Misdirection Overflow. Akashi uses this to pass safely despite Kagami's Zone Defense. Relationships Seijūrō Akashi Akashi first approached Mayuzumi on the rooftop of Rakuzan, where he was spending time reading light novels. He offered Mayuzumi to be a part of the team since he believed him having a similar skills with Kuroko. At first, Mayuzumi refused his offers because it would be boring that he only possessed passing skills. However, that only made Akashi look impressed and pleased with his statements and told him that he can surpass Kuroko. It was revealed based on Replace Novel, Mayuzumi knew that Akashi and other Uncrowned Generals are looking down on him which made him get annoyed. He got special training from Akashi to get more adapted with his new style. Akashi used to call Mayuzumi with Honorifics (Mayuzumi-san) but then started to refer to him with rude speech. Shortly after the Winter Cup, Akashi approached Mayuzumi since he didn't come to the retirement ceremony. He used polite words, talking to him using honorifics again and thanking him for his hard work. While Mayuzumi thanked him because he at least enjoyed his last year even though he didn't have any particular memorable event nor attachment with the team. In addition he refused to be called politely and they parted ways until graduation. Rakuzan High Due to his resentful and self-centered personality, Mayuzumi is not fond of his team-mates. Being at the club for three years, nobody could even tell his playing style, implying that he is somewhat of a loner. Judging from his reaction when Nebuya congratulated him, it can be assumed that he was looked down upon from the Uncrowned Kings and that annoyed him. However, he began to be respected when he went under the tutelage of Seijūrō Akashi and became the new phantom sixth man. His team-mates began to acknowledge his skills but somehow, Mayuzumi was still resentful of their past behavior to him. Plus, he stated that he was not passing for them but only because it's his job. When Mayuzumi lost his misdirection, the Uncrowned Kings were bitter in their criticism and propose to sub him out. Mayuzumi internally noted how they acted friendly when he was useful but immediately turn their back when he was not. Tetsuya Kuroko While Kuroko and Mayuzumi didn't know each other before the finals, they are both "Phantoms players" with the ability of Misdirection. They enjoy reading books and were taught by Akashi. However, their personalities are what really differentiate the two. Mayuzumi takes pride in being the "new model" of the phantom sixth man that he claimed to be his own style, and as a result loathed Kuroko. When the Rakuzan's player showed his ability for the first time, he glowered at Kuroko and told him he'll never beat him. Furthermore, he made fun of him when he returned on the pitch by comparing him to a "Charlatan" whose tricks were already discovered. For his part, Kuroko is not fond of Mayuzumi, remembering the words of Takao about the disdain for his own kind. After observing him, Kuroko purposely took advantage of Mayuzumi's personality to regain his Misdirection. However he showed pity for him when Akashi lost faith and started using him for nothing more than passes. Trivia *In the fourth Replace novel, Mayuzumi's hair is falsely colored orange instead of grey. *According to the CHARACTERS BIBLE PLUS: **His favorite food is Kusaya. **His hobby is reading. **His specialty is overclocking. **His motto is: "Farm on sunny days, read on rainy days." *Fujimaki commented that he's been wanting to introduce a player with the same style as Kuroko for a long time, but wasn't expecting him to have this sort of personality. * According to the KUROFES: **His best subject is physics. **He isn't a member of any school committee. **His family consists of a mother and a father. **He's not good at talking to people. **His type of girl is someone who is quiet. **He spends his free time getting off at train stations he isn't familiar with, just to wander off. **He started playing basketball to improve his physical abilities and strength. **His best basketball play is a middle shot, and his special move is misdirection. **The player he has his eye on is Kuroko. Quotes *''"...Did you see that? I don't give a damn about all that stuff about old models and new models. I'm completely different from you... This is my style. There is no way you can beat me." '' (in his thought to Tetsuya Kuroko)Kuroko no Basuke chapter 239, page 16 *''"Let me tell you this, Mister old model of the Sixth Man. You, the old model, have no chance of winning against me, the new model." Kuroko no Basuke chapter 248, page 18 (to Tetsuya Kuroko) *"How pathetic. What? Did you want us to comfort you? Encourage you? I won't be doing any of that. I'm not a saint. It's just something not to my liking so I'm voicing a complaint. You were talking real big before, and now you're like this? Though... I don't really think that's the case. You're a completely different person from the guy I met on the roof back then. So, who are you?" ''Kuroko no Basuke chapter 266, page 6 (to Seijūrō Akashi) References Navigation id:Chihiro Mayuzumi pl:Chihiro Mayuzumi Category:Characters Category:Players Category:Rakuzan High Category:PF Category:Rakuzan High Notable Members